Jennison Associates LLC Raises Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 36.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,455,445 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 658,477 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC owned about 0.39% of Sempra worth $183,495,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. PrairieView Partners LLC boosted its stake in Sempra by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 376 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 119.9% in the third quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. grew its holdings in Sempra by 100.0% in the third quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC increased its position in Sempra by 100.0% during the third quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Sempra by 100.0% during the third quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on SRE shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Sempra from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Sempra from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH began coverage on Sempra in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $81.50 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com cut Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.14.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total value of $4,063,936.89. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 10,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $770,983.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 34,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total transaction of $2,421,677.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $141.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total transaction of $4,063,936.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $770,983.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 156,622 shares of company stock valued at $11,089,713 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of SRE stock traded up $0.58 on Monday, hitting $70.66. The stock had a trading volume of 667,263 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,937,538. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $70.39 and its 200-day moving average is $71.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.71. Sempra has a 52-week low of $63.75 and a 52-week high of $79.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.54.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.02. Sempra had a net margin of 18.26% and a return on equity of 9.45%. The company had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.17 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is 51.77%.

About Sempra

Sempra operates as an energy infrastructure company in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Sempra California, Sempra Texas Utilities, and Sempra Infrastructure. The Sempra California segment provides electric services; and natural gas services to San Diego County.